An award-winning director is making a short film in East Cambridgeshire starring Hollyoaks actor Billy Price and Iain Fletcher who recently featured in Wild Horses with academy award-winner Gary Oldman.  

Writer and director Oisin Byrne has been developing the script for a number of months and the film will be shot in Haddenham in August. 

Oisin, who has lived in Haddenham since 2020, said: "It feels good to be making a film here.

"I’ve grown to love Ely and the surrounding area. I grew up in Bristol and lived in London before getting married and starting a family in the area.

"I like the vibe of the place and it's inspired my writing.” 

The short film, The Last Day, is a drama set in a professor’s office at a university. It’s about a student and a professor who clash about grades on the last day of term.

"There’s an electric encounter between these two characters with lots of emotional twists and turns along the way, added Oisin, who has been holding rehearsals with the actors.

Iain Fletcher has been in Eastenders, starred in The Bill, has played Hamlet on stage and starred in the musical Mamma Mia.

Billy Price's theatre roles include To Kill a Mockingbird and Goodnight Mr Tom. 

The actors will be staying at hotels in Ely for the duration of the shoot. Following the production, the film will have a local screening.

It will go on a film festival run and later be published on a streaming platform. 

Oisin and his wife, Ellie, are a filmmaking duo and have a son. They produced the award-winning film Public Discourse featuring Isobella Hubbard who appeared in TV shows Coronation Street and Outlander. 

After establishing the production company Parameter films in 2019, they’ve been developing projects.

The film being shot in Haddenham is their most ambitious project to date. They have chosen to build a film set on the ground floor of their home to make the film. 

Ellie said: “The story unfolds in a poky professor’s office at a university so filming on the ground floor of our property is achievable.

"Putting up set walls and using our place as a location for the production offers many benefits.

"Not just with costs but with the level of creative choices we can make regarding set design, lighting and camera setups.” 

Ellie is a producer on the film and has a first class degree in journalism.

Oisin comes from a musical background and has previously worked with Mercury Music Prize winner Roni Size on songwriting projects.

His films have won various awards, including best script and been screened at film festivals around the globe, including BAFTA qualifying festivals such as Encounters and Aesthetica.